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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Anomalous Material Weekly Feature: 10 Best Silent Films

Here we are again true believers, with my latest weekly 10 best feature for the fine folks over at Anomalous Material. For those of you not in the know, those same said fine folks have given me a (possibly foolish on their behalf) regular gig as feature writer. It is a series of top ten lists on various cinematic subjects - and anyone who knows me can attest to how perfectly suited I am to such an endeavor (yes I am a list nerd). This week's feature, my twenty-third such feature, is on the timely subject of silent movies. Why are silent movies timely in this day and age of digital in your face mass media you may ask? Well, it is because a silent film is just days away from taking home the Oscar for Best Picture (and probably Director, Actor, Score and Editing as well). So with that in mind I composed a list of my personal favourite silent films of those (semi) lost woebegone days of yore.

As for the many silent films I had to leave out of this list, one of the most important is a little thing that debuted back on December 28, 1895 in Paris by the name of La Sortie des usines Lumière à Lyon, orWorkers Leaving the Lumière Factory. Directed by film pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumere, it was the very first film shown at the very first public screening of a film anywhere in the known world. It is just a mere 50 seconds long and really shows nothing but exactly what the title would have you believe it shows, but considering what it led to, aka, the birth of cinema, it probably should be mentioned somewhere here.

A very logical follow-up question. I should have thought that through before I wrote it. :-)

Hmmm, My Hospitality from Keaton is great (as is The General). Safety Last! from Lloyd is great. I consider Modern Times to be Chaplin's best film, but not his funniest. That would probably be The Gold Rush.

Can I do a three way tie of Gold Rush, Safety Last, and Our Hospitality for best comedy?